Clanton's Woman

by Patricia Knoll

  Mallory managed to keep her curiosity under control until they pulled into Benson and stopped at a home on the edge of town. In the glow of a bright yard light, she could see that it was a rambling brick structure. Soft lamps glowed invitingly in the windows. Behind the house was a barn and a corral.

  When Jack took her hand and helped her out of the truck, Mallory glanced around. “Where are we?”

  “My sister’s place. Come in and meet her.”

  Mallory hesitated, not sure she was ready to meet Jack’s family. After all, it wasn’t as if they’d been on a real date, and they certainly weren’t romantically interested in each other. Before she could say anything, though, Jack took her arm and urged her toward the door.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll like her. You’ve already met the worst member of the family.”

  “That would be you, I assume?”

  “That would be me.” He opened the front door and invited her inside, then called out to see if anyone was home.

  Within seconds, a trim blonde with a sunny smile came hurrying from the kitchen. Jack introduced his sister, Carolyn Barrett.

  With a quick handshake and a warm smile, Carolyn made her feel welcome. “This is great,” she said, leading the way back to the kitchen. “We’ve already met your sister this evening.”

  “You have?”

  “T.C. brought her out, probably for the same reason you’re here. Go on out to the corral. I’ll join you in a few minutes. I’ve got a cake in the oven for the church bake sale tomorrow.” Briskly, she whipped the oven door open while Jack strode to the back door, taking Mallory with him.

  Mallory shook her head in confusion as they stepped onto the porch. “Why am I here?”

  “Gary, Carolyn’s husband, and I are partners in a horse-raising operation. One of the mares foaled today.” He indicated the corral and barn and they headed that way.

  “Foaled? You mean…a baby horse?”

  Jack chuckled. “That’s right, city girl. Come and see our new colt.”

  In a stall fragrant with the scent of new hay, a palomino mare hovered protectively over a knobbykneed colt who stood shakily as he began to nurse.

  Mallory knelt in the hay and gingerly touched his velvety coat. “Oh, he’s beautiful,” Mallory breathed, drawing her hand away. He turned his head and regarded her solemnly through eyes of melting brown. “I’ll bet Sammi went crazy over him.”

  “She did,” Carolyn said, bustling up behind them. She gave her brother a quick grin. “Believe it or not, Gary went into town to buy some cigars. He’s as excited about this as he was when T.C. and Rhonda were born.”

  Jack grinned and looked proudly at the newborn. “He has a right to be proud. Ruby’s first two foals were stillborn.” Mallory was sure that if he’d been wearing suspenders, Jack would have tucked his thumbs into them and puffed out his chest.

  The two women exchanged smiles and she realized that she could easily come to like Jack’s sister.

  Carolyn stayed and chatted a few minutes, then went back to the house, leaving Jack and Mallory alone in the quiet barn.

  Mallory leaned her arms on the top rail of the stall. “I like your sister, Jack.” She threw him a teasing glance. “She isn’t much like you.”

  He cocked his head. “You mean she’s not an irritating pain in the behind?”

  “That’s right.”

  When Jack laughed, Mallory felt gooseflesh prickle up her arms and something settled inside her as if a warm hand had cupped itself around her heart.

  It would be very easy for her to fall in love with this man.

  CHAPTER SIX

  JACK’S laughter died away, leaving Mallory shaken by her disturbing thought. She lifted a trembling hand to smooth her hair away from her face as she tried to come to terms with it. She couldn’t be falling in love with him. She’d thought herself in love before and it had been a disaster. It wasn’t love she felt for Jack, but admiration.

  To prove it to herself, she focused on the things she liked about him. “You’re an unusual man, Jack Clanton. You own your own business where you employ your niece and nephew. You raise horses with your brother-in-law. Jim and Fred tell me you own real estate all over Arizona. It sounds like you believe in diversity.”

  “I believe in staying out of debt,” he said dryly. He was quiet for a minute, then he went on, “Mallory, my family wasn’t like yours.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There was no family business to support us. My dad abandoned us when Carolyn was twelve and I was ten, then our mother died six years later. Carolyn was married to Gary by then and I moved in with them. We were like three kids raising ourselves.”

  She wanted to tell him he’d done a good job, but couldn’t force the words past the lump of compassion that had swelled up in her throat. She thought of the warmth and security of the home where she’d grown up with two parents who had loved, provided for and protected her.

  Jack was gazing into the stall as he spoke. “Even before Dad left, he couldn’t hold a job for very long. We were so poor growing up that the only thing we had in any amount was our heritage.”

  “That’s why your family and its history are so important to you.”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s why you wanted my house.”

  “Part of the reason.”

  “Jack?”

  “Yes?”

  “Did he ever come back?”

  “My dad?” He turned his head and stared off as if deep in thought. For a minute, she thought he wasn’t going to answer her. “No, but he called whenever he needed money. He was killed about ten years ago, walking along a dark road somewhere in Kentucky. Carolyn and I paid for him to be buried there.”

  She nodded, thinking of what it must have been like to be abandoned. She was glad he had told her. It made her admiration for him and his accomplishments waver right on the border, almost tumbling over into love.

  As they drove back to Tombstone, Mallory reflected on what he’d told her and wondered why he’d done it. She knew she wasn’t a coward, but she wasn’t sure she was prepared for the answer if she asked him directly.

  Back in town, Jack stopped the truck at the end of Allen Street and they walked up to her shop. Mallory dug in the pocket of her skirt for her key.

  At her door, he plucked the key from her hand, inserted it in the lock, and opened the door for her. When she turned to take back her key and thank him, she found that he was standing much too close. His broad shoulders blocked out the light from the street lamps.

  She looked up, her brown eyes suddenly unsure, her heart seeming to slow its beat, then speed up.

  Jack murmured her name, and then his lips were on hers. Mallory sighed into his mouth as the firm touch of his lips sent warmth, and then heat, spiraling through her. His hands slipped up her arms and then over her shoulders to cup her face in a way that made her bones melt. Her own hands rested unsteadily at his waist, then scooted over the hard muscles that banded his back.

  At this signal of her acceptance, Jack made a deep, growling sound in his throat and pulled her hard into his embrace. His lips touched her eyes, her cheeks, then came back to ravage her mouth.

  His taste went through her in jolts of sensation that were both frightening and wildly arousing. His mouth was firm, warm and commanding. She couldn’t get her breath, and then forgot that she needed to breathe.

  Why hadn’t she expected this? The thought flashed through her mind as her hands dug into his hard muscles, kneading against the rich fabric of his shirt, wishing it was his skin. Why hadn’t she expected that a man who did everything with such strength and power would kiss like this?

  He was frightening and fulfilling, powerful, potent. Her mind ran out of descriptive words as he drew her even closer, bruising her, crushing her close, making her ache for him.

  The swiftness of his passion caused a shaft of fear to spurt through her. Where had his gentleness gone? she wondered hazily. Where was his easygoing teas
ing now?

  She had read him all wrong.

  Mallory pulled back. “Jack, don’t. I—”

  “You what?” he asked in a low tone, lifting his head. His eyes glittered and his breath was ragged, coming in short bursts that puffed against her cheek.

  The warmth of it was so inviting, she turned away. “I’m not—”

  “Yes, you are,” he said, interrupting her with another kiss. “You can’t deny what you feel.”

  How could she deny it when he kissed her again and she lifted her hands to entwine in the thickness of his black hair? How could she tell him no when she wanted him to never stop giving her this heady rush of sensation? He made her feel as if she was the most desirable woman on earth.

  “Come home with me, Mallory.” His voice was raw, full of the same need she was feeling. “Come with me. Sammi can stay alone for one night.”

  “No…no. I ca-can’t,” she stammered, finally gathering the strength to draw away from him. She lifted shaky hands to push back her hair and brush her swollen, tender lips. Her eyes were slumberous and yet edged with shock.

  She hadn’t been thinking, only feeling. Jack aroused emotions in her she’d never known, not even with Charles. If she’d made such a horrible mistake with Charles, who had been a pale imitation of the type of virile manhood that Jack showed, what kind of disaster could she create with Jack?

  “Li-listen,” she said shakily. “This is…this is a really bad idea.” She lifted trembling hands to cover her face, then peered at him over the tips of her fingers. “I’m not…” She paused as her eyes focused on the back of the shop where she saw movement.

  “You’re not what?” Jack demanded, lifting his hand to turn her face back to him. “Not ready? So you say, but that’s not the way I see it. Not eager? You and I both know that’s a lie.”

  Shakily, Mallory pulled her chin from his grasp, then twisted away from him. Fear had welled up in her—fear of her own feelings, of the sudden passion, of his strength and intensity.

  Her greatest fear was of making another horrible mistake.

  Because she didn’t know what she should do about it, she lashed out as she lifted a trembling hand.

  “Look,” she demanded, her voice shaking. “There’s your nephew in there with my little sister.”

  Jack’s hands sprang away from her and he turned swiftly. At the door that led upstairs, T.C. stood with Sammi in his arms.

  “That…that isn’t right,” Mallory stammered. “She’s not ready for this. I’ve got to stop him.” She started inside, but Jack grabbed her arm, holding her in place.

  “He’s only doing exactly what you and I were…” Jack’s gaze shifted to her as his hand tightened on her arm. She could feel him willing her to look up. Unable to resist, she did so. “It’s not Sammi you’re worried about,” he said harshly. “It’s yourself.”

  Mallory stared at Jack for several moments, unable to think of anything to say. If she denied it, he would scoff. If she admitted it, he would sneer.

  Instead, she lifted her chin and looked him straight in the eye. She could only hope that he couldn’t see how her lips were trembling, lips that were still bruised from his kisses.

  “Excuse me,” she said. “I’m going inside to deal with a family problem.” She reached for the doorknob, but his hand settled over hers.

  “I’m coming, too. This involves my family, as well.” His voice was hard enough to bend steel.

  Mallory knew she couldn’t stop him. “All right, come on in.” She said it as if she was the one in control, but his firm hand on hers told her they both knew she wasn’t.

  “I’ll come to make sure you don’t do or say anything foolish.”

  “I don’t need you to tell me how to deal with my own sister.”

  “No,” he said, his tone ripe with disgust. “I’ve given up on trying that. But you do need me to tell you how to deal with my nephew.”

  Giving him a furious look, Mallory shoved the door open and strode inside. T.C. and Sammi sprang apart. The young man flushed guiltily when he saw Mallory and his uncle, but he stood up straight and met their eyes steadily.

  Mallory chanced a quick glance at Jack and saw that his expression wasn’t the wink-and-nudge one she might have expected, but was a man-to-man request for an explanation.

  Confused, she looked at her sister and saw that Sammi’s face was pink, flushed with joy as she gave T.C. an adoring look, then turned a happy smile on her sister.

  “Hi,” she said breathlessly. “Did you two have a nice evening?”

  Mallory’s heart thumped painfully in her chest and sickness twisted her stomach. Seeing her little sister’s rapturous expression made her feel worried, unsettled and jealous all at the same time. She was about to answer when Jack took over.

  “We had a fine evening. How about you?”

  “It was wonderful. T.C. came over to watch a movie with me on television. We had popcorn.” Her voice was so full of delight, she could have been relating the events of an evening spent in some wildly exciting pursuit. “Then he took me out to his house to see the new colt they’ve got.”

  “I…I saw it, too,” Mallory said.

  “Isn’t he wonderful?” Sammi asked, sighing. Without a hint of self-consciousness, Sammi reached out and slipped her hand into T.C.’s. He gave her a startled look that quickly switched to pride. His big fist closed around her hand and the two of them stood shoulder-to-shoulder facing Jack and Mallory. He might be only twenty years old, but he was a man and he knew what he wanted. Obviously, a family trait, Mallory thought in despair.

  Something twisted inside Mallory. She felt almost as if her sister was united with T.C.—against her. She wanted to pull Sammi upstairs and warn her against what was happening. Sammi wasn’t ready for the kinds of emotions that Mallory could so clearly read on her face. And yet, would Sammi listen? Mallory herself hadn’t listened when her parents had tried to warn her about self-centered Charles Garrison, and she had supposedly been more mature than Sammi was at the same age.

  Against her back, she could feel Jack’s unyielding presence. The force of his will was telling her that he was watching her carefully, ready to jump in and stop her if she said the wrong thing. Telling herself that she wasn’t doing this to satisfy him, she managed to summon a smile for her sister and say, “That sounds like fun, but it’s getting late and we have to work tomorrow, so—”

  “I’ll be going,” T.C. broke in.

  “I’ll walk you to your Jeep,” Sammi quickly offered.

  The two of them had to squeeze past Mallory and Jack in the store’s aisle, and in the ensuing shuffle, Jack pulled Mallory against him and held her there until they were alone.

  When the other two were outside, Mallory jerked her arm from his grasp and turned on him furiously. “It’s nice to see that one member of your family has some manners. It’s time for you to go, too.”

  Jack’s strong features became harsh in the dim light. “You didn’t seem to mind my manners too much outside when you were trying to crawl inside my skin.”

  Mallory’s lips tightened and turned down at the corners. “That’s disgusting.”

  “It’s a fact.”

  “You’re…you’re just angry because I turned you down. I wouldn’t go back to your place with you, and…and—”

  “You would have gone, Mallory,” he assured her in a tone that made her think of the low growl of a very dangerous animal. “If you hadn’t let your fear get in the way of your good sense, you would have gone.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself.” She was recovering from her shock now, regaining her composure. With sheer bravado, she tilted her head and gazed at him.

  “I don’t, Mallory.” He stepped so close that she thought for a second he was going to take her in his arms once again. If he did, she wasn’t sure she had the will to resist him in spite of her defiant words. “I never flatter myself. The way you kissed me outside is all the flattery I need.”

  She gritted her tee
th, knowing she had surely lost this argument. She could deny it all she wanted, but they both knew the truth.

  Mallory was buffeted by such a mixture of emotions that for a moment, she couldn’t pick out the one that bothered her the most. She finally settled on betrayal. Jack Clanton had fooled her once again. He had spent the evening posing as the most amiable of men, a charming and knowledgeable companion who teased and followed her lead in conversation. How could she have forgotten that he had a basically relentless nature?

  “It’s time for you to go,” she repeated.

  Jack lifted his hat and resettled it on his head. He watched her from beneath the brim. She tried to hold his gaze even as she wished he would go away and leave her alone. Sammi would be coming back any minute now, and Mallory needed to think what to say to her.

  Jack was having none of that. Instead, he said, “What was so terrible about your marriage that it’s made you bitter enough to begrudge your own sister some happiness?”

  “I don’t begrudge her some happiness,” Mallory hissed.

  “What was it like?” he cut in.

  “That’s really none of your—”

  “What was it like?”

  She glared at him, then blurted, “Charles was jealous.”

  Jack crossed his arms over his chest and looked so superior that she wanted to shove him. “Did you give him reason to be?”

  “Ohhh…you’re so smug. You think you know everything and you know nothing!”

  “So tell me.”

  “Charles wasn’t jealous of other men,” she spit out furiously. “He was jealous of knowledge. Whenever I delved into any subjects on which he considered himself to be an expert, he degraded my research, my conclusions, everything. He always had to be right. He could never admit when he was wrong.” She fixed him with her fiercest glare. Her pride wouldn’t let her admit that her discussions with her husband had usually ended with her near tears and Charles triumphant. “And yet, the most ironic thing was that he wrote two books on Western history and I did the research, the typing, even much of the first draft.”